This invention relates to a retriever for cartridges or spent casings that are ejected from a firearm. Many shotguns and rifles in use in the world today are the type that loud and eject from a side port as opposed to a top port. For various odd reasons, persons who use such weapons are disposed to collect the casings that are ejected upon firing the weapon or as a practical matter are interested in collecting unfired cartridges or shells so as to prevent them from falling to the ground and becoming dirty or damaged.
Many devices have been developed for retrieving cartridges, casings and shells since one of the major costs in reloading the same is the cost of the casing itself. Generally, upon firing a firearm and ejection of the spent cartridge therefrom, the cartridge usually is flung some distance from the person operating the firearm and thus the cartridge can be damaged or even lost so that it cannot be re-used. Moreover, if one wishes to remove live cartridges or shells from a firearm at the end of a hunt or target practice, they must be carefully removed and collected in order to ensure that they are not damaged or that they do not carry dirt and debris back into the firearm when the firearm is reloaded.
Thus, it is not surprising that several devices have been designed to retrieve cartridges.
Aside from the significance of collecting cartridges, such collecting devices should have other desirable features, such as, easy and simple mounting on the firearm and easy removal for storage. They should also be lightweight and non-bulky and should not interfere with the operation of the firearm. They must also accomodate several cartridges at one time but not be so large that they unbalance the firearm or obscure vision of the person firing the weapon.
E. E. Richardson in U.S. Pat. No. 2,354,277 shows a retriever for firearm ejected shells which consists of a box-like receiver having mounting means. The box-like receiver is rigid and the ejected shells are carried some distance away from the firearm down the box-like receiver. This retriever is not easily storable, such as in the clothes pocket of the operator, and has no energy absorbing means for the ejected cartridge.
Another version of a retriever device is that shown by G. M. Pruonto et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,458, which is a metal box-like device that attaches to the firearm by the use of a permanent mounting bracket and screws. Ready removal and storage of this device is not contemplated by the inventors therein.
A third device of the prior art is a lobe-shaped receptacle shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,685. This device is mounted on the side of the firearm by a top mounting clip and a bottom mounting stud and a screw. Easy removal of the device is not encouraged by the use of the screw which would involve the use of a tool of some sort. Moreover, the device does not have any energy absorbing mechanism nor any alignment mechanism for the ejected cartridges.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,981 describes a lightweight, easy mountable device for retrieving cartridges. It consists of a flexible bag for receiving the ejected cartridges and a mounting means which is not permanently affixed and which involves the use of suction cups on a U-shaped spring clamp. The device, however, does not have an energy absorbing means nor a cartridge alignment means. The cartridges are free to sort out their own alignment after ejection.
Finally, Dobson, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,834, shows a cartridge retriever which has a removable wire mesh basket for collecting the cartridges and which has a mounting means consisting of a spring bias clamping device or a clamping device which surrounds the firearm.
The device is designed so that the basket is removable or the entire apparatus can be removed from the firearm. The device also has an energy absorbing mechanism in that the housing is made from a deformable plastic or rubber. The device however does not have any alignment mechanism nor is the wire basket collapsible so that it can be readily stored. The wire basket is also susceptible to bending and denting which eventually would not allow proper alignment of the basket on the mounting apparatus.
Thus, the instant invention device is designed to overcome the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art.